Restoring modified assets

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, device, methods, computer program product, and system are described that determine that a modified media asset includes a modified portion that has been modified from a former portion, and alter the modified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which at least a part of the former portion is restored.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

1. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled TECHNIQES FOR IMAGEGENERATION, naming Royce A. Levien; Robert W. Lord; Mark A. Malamud andJohn D. Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, USAN: Ser. No. 11/173,990, filedJul. 1, 2005.

2. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled PROVIDING PROMOTIONAL CONTENT,naming Royce A. Levien; Robert W. Lord; Mark A. Malamud and John D.Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, USAN: Ser. No. 11/174,432, filed Jul. 1,2005.

3. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation in part of currently co-pendingUnited States patent application entitled MODIFYING RESTRICTED IMAGES,naming Royce A. Levien; Robert W. Lord; Mark A. Malamud and John D.Rinaldo, Jr., as inventors, USAN: To be Assigned, filed Aug. 2, 2005.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to, claims the earliest availableeffective filing date(s) from (e.g., claims earliest available prioritydates for other than provisional patent applications; claims benefitsunder 35 USC § 119(e) for provisional patent applications), andincorporates by reference in its entirety all subject matter of thefollowing listed application(s) (the “Related Applications”) to theextent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith; the presentapplication also claims the earliest available effective filing date(s)from, and also incorporates by reference in its entirety all subjectmatter of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc.applications of the Related Application(s) to the extent such subjectmatter is not inconsistent herewith. The United States Patent Office(USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that the USPTO's computerprograms require that patent applicants reference both a serial numberand indicate whether an application is a continuation or continuation inpart. Kunin, Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTO ElectronicOfficial Gazette, Mar. 18, 2003 athttp://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm. Thepresent applicant entity has provided below a specific reference to theapplication(s)from which priority is being claimed as recited bystatute. Applicant entity understands that the statute is unambiguous inits specific reference language and does not require either a serialnumber or any characterization such as “continuation” or“continuation-in-part.” Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant entityunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence applicant entity is designating the presentapplication as a continuation in part of its parent applications, butexpressly points out that such designations are not to be construed inany way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or notthe present application contains any new matter in addition to thematter of its parent application(s).

SUMMARY

An embodiment provides a method. In one implementation, the methodincludes but is not limited to determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a formerportion, and altering the modified media asset to produce a restoredmedia asset in which at least a part of the former portion is restored.In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides a computer program product. In oneimplementation, the computer program product includes but is not limitedto a signal bearing medium bearing at least one of one or moreinstructions for determining that a modified media asset includes amodified portion that has been modified from a former portion, and oneor more instructions for altering the modified media asset to produce arestored media asset in which at least a part of the former portion isrestored. In addition to the foregoing, other computer program productaspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a partof the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides a system. In one implementation, the systemincludes but is not limited to a computing device and instructions. Theinstructions when executed on the computing device cause the computingdevice to determine that a modified media asset includes a modifiedportion that has been modified from a former portion, and alter themodified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which at leasta part of the former portion is restored. In addition to the foregoing,other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides a device. In one implementation, the deviceincludes but is not limited to a processing system, the processingsystem comprising recognition logic that is operable to determine that amodified media asset includes a modified portion that has been modifiedfrom a former portion, and restoration logic that is operable to alterthe modified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which atleast a part of the former portion is restored. In addition to theforegoing, other device aspects are described in the claims, drawings,and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

An embodiment provides another method. In one implementation, the methodincludes but is not limited to providing a modified media asset to aprocessing system for recognition of a modified portion within themodified media asset that has been modified from a former portion, andreceiving a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspectsare described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of thepresent disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

In addition to the foregoing, various other embodiments are set forthand described in the text (e.g., claims and/or detailed description)and/or drawings of the present description.

The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity,simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary isillustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Otheraspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processesdescribed herein, as defined by the claims, will become apparent in thedetailed description set forth herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which embodiments may beimplemented, perhaps in a device.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate certain alternative embodiments of the deviceand/or processing system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow representing example operationsthat produce a restored media asset.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the exampleoperational flow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the exampleoperational flow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the exampleoperational flow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the example operationalflow of FIG. 3.

FIG. 12 illustrates a partial view of an example computer programproduct that includes a computer program for executing a computerprocess on a computing device.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example device in which embodiments may beimplemented.

FIG. 14 illustrates an operational flow representing example operationsby which a user receives a restored media asset.

The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 in which embodiments may beimplemented, perhaps in the context of a device. In FIG. 1, a formermedia asset 101 is assumed to have been modified, converted,manipulated, or otherwise transformed into a modified media asset 102.Although full discussion and details as to how or why such modificationmay take place are not provided herein, it should be understood thatvarious possibilities and techniques exist for obtaining the modifiedmedia asset 102 from the former media asset 101. By way of example andnot limitation, a user may modify the former media asset 101 usingconventional audio or image editing tools. As another example, a systemmay input the former media asset 101 and perform certain operationsthereon to obtain the modified media asset 102, such as, for example,obscuring, enhancing, processing, or replacing portions of the formermedia asset 101. Further examples of such operations include rotating,scaling, coloring, or substituting portions of the former media asset101, or altering a contrast, brightness, or other attribute of theformer media asset 101. Such operations may be performed, for example,in order to improve the former media asset 101 or otherwise to match auser preference, to block out certain portions of the former media asset101, or to anonymize or otherwise obscure an identity of a person orother subject of the former media asset 101.

At some time after being modified, the modified media asset 102 isreceived at a processing system 104 and thereafter output by theprocessing system 104 as a restored media asset 106. More specifically,the modified media asset 102 includes a modified portion 108, and theprocessing system 104 is operable to determine that the modified portion108 is, in fact, modified from some former state.

The processing system 104 is further operable to restore the modifiedmedia asset 102, and in particular, to restore at least a portion of themodified portion 108, and thereafter output the restored media asset 106having a restored portion 110. In this way, for example, the modifiedmedia asset 102 may be viewed in its original form (or in some versionof some previous form).

Of course, the example just mentioned does not imply a limitation thatthe restored portion 110 is identical to the former portion 107. Forexample, only a part of the former portion 107 may be included in therestored portion 110, and even this part may be modified (e.g.,clarified or enhanced) with respect to its counterpart in the actualformer portion 107.

Also, although the example of FIG. 1 illustrates an image of a humanfigure as the former portion 107, modified portion 108, and the restoredportion 110, it is apparent that any other subject or element of amodified media asset may be restored in the manner described, includingimages of places and things, and including a non-image subject (e.g., aspoken word or other sound). Additionally, the modified portion 108 neednot include a single, or any, discernable element of the modified mediaasset 102, and may represent, for example, a background or blank spacein the modified media asset 102 that has obscured the former portion107, but that is nonetheless determined by the processing system 104 andrestored within the restored media asset 106. Thus, the terms subject,element, item, discernable element, or similar terms should be readaccordingly, unless context dictates otherwise.

The processing system 104 includes recognition logic 112 that isoperable to recognize the modified nature of the modified portion 108.The processing system 104 also includes restoration logic 114 that isoperable to restore the modified media asset 102 (including the modifiedportion 108) to obtain the restored media asset 106 and the restoredportion 110.

As described in more detail herein, the recognition logic 112 maydetermine the modified portion 108 within the modified media asset 102using recognition criteria 116. As also described in more detail herein,the restoration logic 114 may obtain the restored portion 110 byaccessing restoration criteria 118, and/or by accessing substituteinformation 119. Specific examples of operations involving theseelements of the processing system 104 are provided below in the contextof various operational flows.

Generally speaking, however, the recognition logic 112 may operate toanalyze various attributes of the modified media asset 102, including,for example, attributes of the modified portion 108, in order todetermine a modified nature of the modified portion 108. One example ofattributes of the modified media asset 102 that is illustrated in FIG. 1includes concurrent image(s) 120, i.e., the recognition logic 112 maymake a determination that the modified portion 108 is modified based ona presence or absence of the concurrent image(s) 120, or based on thepresence or absence of certain attributes of the concurrent image(s)120. Of course, attributes of the modified media asset 102 are notnecessarily limited to characteristics of the modified media asset 102,and also may include, for example, metadata associated with the modifiedmedia asset 102, an identity of a person, place, or thing within or inassociation with the modified portion 108, or information related to aperson and/or device involved in capturing the modified media asset 102.Meanwhile, the restoration logic 114 may operate to restore the restoredportion 110, by, for example, selecting the former portion 107 from thesubstitution information 119, for inclusion in whole or in part in therestored portion 110.

Further in FIG. 1, a user 122 accesses the processing system 104 by wayof a user interface 124. In this way, the user 122 may, for example,submit the modified media asset 102 to the processing system 104, orreceive the restored media asset 106 from the processing system 104, ormay become involved in operations of the processing system 104. The userinterface 124 also may be used, for example, to define or modify therecognition criteria 116, or to select the restoration criteria 118. Theuser interface 124 also may be used to control a type and/or extent ofthe recognition performed by the recognition logic 112, or to control atype and/or extent of the restorations performed by the restorationlogic 114.

Also in FIG. 1, a device 126 is shown in which the processing system 104may operate. As described in more detail with respect to FIG. 2 andfollowing figures, the device 126 may include in some examples, an imagecapture device, a print device, a display device, an audio capturedevice, a general-purpose computing device, or virtually any otherdevice or combination of devices that may be used to store, transmit,display, or render a media asset.

The processing system 104 also may be operable to perform otherprocessing of the modified media asset 102, such as, for example,enhancing, editing, displaying, or otherwise improving the modifiedmedia asset 102, or, in other example embodiments, such additionalprocessing may be performed by other external systems (not shown), ifneeded.

FIG. 1 also illustrates the possibility that the modified media asset102 may be associated with metadata 128. For example, a video stream mayhave an associated closed-captioning stream, or a web page may havemetadata associated with content of the page. Typically, such metadata128 may not be viewable to the user 122, or may only be viewable if somespecific action is taken by the user 122. The metadata 128 may beintended by a designer or producer of the modified media asset 102, orby an intervening user of the modified media asset 102, to provideadditional information or level of enjoyment to the user 122, and may beused by the processing system 104 to assist in, for example, determiningthe modified portion 108, as described in more detail, below. Themetadata 128 may or may not be included within, or otherwise associatedwith, the former media asset 101, or the restored media asset 106.

A symbol or text 130, on the other hand, generally representsinformation that is included within the modified media asset 102 fornormal viewing, listening, or other reception by the user 122 or anotheruser. For example, a web page may include a news article that names aperson who is pictured in the article. By using the name text, therecognition logic 112 may be able to determine identity or otherinformation regarding the modified portion 108, or the concurrentimage(s) 120, and may therefore take associated restorative action toobtain the restored media asset 106.

In FIG. 1, it should be understood that any and/or all of theillustrated elements, and other elements, not illustrated, may be incommunication with one another according to any known methods, includingbut not limited to the various communication techniques discussedherein. As such, it should be understood that the various elements neednot be located or co-located as illustrated in the example of FIG. 1.For example, in some embodiments, the recognition logic 112 and/or therecognition criteria 116 may be remote from the processing system 104.Similarly, the user interface 124 may be implemented at a localcomputing device of the user 122, remote from the processing system 104,or may be a part of the device 126 that may house the processing system104, as well.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate certain alternative embodiments of the device 126and/or processing system 104 of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2A, the device 126 isillustrated as a printer 126 a, which includes the processing system 104and a display 202. The display 202 may be used to display a preview of amedia asset to be printed with the printer 126 a, such as, for example,the former media asset 101, the modified media asset 102 and/or therestored media asset 106, and, of course, the printer 126 a may be usedto print the modified media asset 102 and/or the restored media asset106 on paper 204, as well.

The display 202 also should be understood to function, in some exampleembodiments, as the user interface 124. For example, the display 202 mayinclude touch-screen control for operating the printer 126 a and/or theprocessing system 104, or various buttons, keys, or otherselection/input devices (not shown) may be used. In additional oralternative embodiments, an external computing device may be connectedto the printer 126 a for control thereof, including control of theprocessing system 104.

In FIG. 2B, the device 126 is illustrated as a camera 126 b, which,similarly to the printer 126 a, includes some or all of the processingsystem 104, as well as a display 206. As with the printer 126 a, thecamera 126 b (and/or the processing system 104) may be controlled by theuser 122, either using the display 206 (and possibly associatedcontrols), or using an external computing device.

In FIG. 2C, the processing system 104 is illustrated as part of aprocessing service 208, which may be remote from the user 122 at adisplay device 210, and in communication therewith by way of a network212. In such example embodiments, the user 122 may use the displaydevice 210 to transmit and receive the modified media asset 102 and/orthe restored media asset 106, respectively, in order to obtain thevarious advantages described herein. Of course, the display device 210may include any computing device that may include a display, including,for example, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, adesktop computer, or any other of the examples provided herein and/orthat are generally known. Also, as shown, the processing system 104 maybe included in the display device 210 (or any other computing device),as well. In one example, discussed in more detail below, the processingservice 208 may operate as a clearinghouse at which media assets ofvarious types and captured by a number of users may be processed, sothat any modified images therein may be restored appropriately.

In FIG. 3 and in following figures that include various examples ofoperational flows, discussion and explanation may be provided withrespect to the above-described examples of FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, and 2C,and/or with respect to other examples and contexts. However, it shouldbe understood that the operational flows may be executed in a number ofother environment and contexts, and/or in modified versions of FIGS. 1,2A, 2B, and 2C. Also, although the various operational flows arepresented in the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood thatthe various operations may be performed in other orders than those whichare illustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow 300 representing exampleoperations that produce the restored media asset 106. After a startoperation, the operational flow 300 moves to a determining operation 310where it is determined that the modified media asset 102 includes themodified portion 108 that has been modified from the former portion 107.For example, the recognition logic 112 of the processing system 104 maydetermine that the modified portion 108 includes a person, place, orthing that is known to be used as a replacement image or other subject,and that, for example, therefore may be subject to restoration to aformer image or other subject, within the restored media asset 106.Various other examples of the determining operation 310 are provided indetail, below.

At an altering operation 320, the modified media asset 102 is altered toproduce the restored media asset 106 in which at least a part of theformer portion 107 is restored. For example, as in FIG. 1, therestoration logic 114 may operate to replace a modified image of aperson or a part of a person with a former image of an originally-imagedperson (or part thereof). In this case, the restored or revealed part orportion may include, for example, one or more of a body (part) shape, ashared facial feature or skin tone, a shared gender or race, a sharedhair color or body physique, or numerous other examples, andcombinations thereof. Of course, the modified image need not be of aperson, but also may include virtually any object that may be imaged,including places, objects, or landmarks, to name just a few. Further,the modified image need not be of a single one of these possibilities,but could include multiple people, places, or things, or combinationsthereof. Further, the media asset(s) 101, 102, and 106 need not includeimages, and may include audio media assets, text media assets, and othermedia assets (some examples of which are given below), as well ascombinations thereof. Further examples are provided below.

In some embodiments, the user 122 may include a person, an entity,and/or a government. Although a user may be shown herein as a singleillustrated figure, and/or be described in the singular, those skilledin the art will appreciate that the term user may be representative ofone or more human user(s), robotic user(s) (e.g., computational entity),and/or substantially any combination thereof (e.g., a user may beassisted by one or more robotic agents). Further, the user, as set forthherein, even if shown as a single entity, may in fact be composed of twoor more entities. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, ingeneral, the same may be said of “sender” and/or other entity-orientedterms as such terms may be used herein.

In some embodiments, the modified media asset 102 may include a visualimage, a picture, a website, an audio recording, a video stream, and/oran audio stream. In additional or alternative embodiments, the modifiedmedia asset 102 also may include text, such as may be included in anarticle or other writing, or in a website. The modified media asset 102may be embodied in various forms, including but not limited to digitalfiles or transmissions, analog recordings or transmissions, or may beembodied in physical form, such as, for example, on paper, plastic,canvas, wood, or any other physical medium in which text, image, orother representations may be embodied.

The modified media asset 102 may be received, stored and/or transmittedusing typical elements of a computer environment. The modified mediaasset 102 (and the restored media asset 106) may be transmitted over anetwork such as the network 212 of FIG. 2, which may represent, forexample, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or apeer-to-peer (P2P) network, or the modified media asset 102 may bebroadcast over the air.

The former media asset 101, the modified media asset 102 (and therestored media asset 106) may be captured, received, displayed and/ortransmitted, for example and without limitation, using one or more ofthe following: an electronic device; an appliance; a computing device,such as a personal computer and a server; a limited resource computingdevice; a pervasive computing device; a personal digital assistant(PDA); a cell phone; a Blackberry appliance; a vehicle, such as a car,boat, and/or aircraft; an X-Box; a home gateway; a set-top box; atelevision, a radio, a camera; a printer; a digital video disc (DVD)recorder or burner; and a TiVo or other digital video recorder (DVR).

FIG. 4 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 illustrates example embodiments where thedetermining operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 402, operation 404,operation 406, operation 408, and/or operation 410.

At the operation 402, a request from a user for the restored media assetis received. For example, the user 122 may request the restored mediaasset 106 from the processing system 104. Specifically, for example, theuser 122 may know or suspect that the modified media asset 102 has, infact, been modified (and may or may not know that the modified portion108 is the specific portion that has been modified), and may submit orotherwise identity the modified media asset 102 to the processing system104 to obtain the restored media asset 106.

At the operation 404, payment is received from a user for obtaining therestored media asset. For example, the user 122 may offer payment to theprocessing system 104, or an operator thereof, for the service ofproviding the restored media asset 106. Here, the user 122 may be thesame user requesting the restored media asset 106 of the operation 402,or may be a different user.

Also, payment may refer generally to any type of monetary compensation,and/or non-monetary compensation, and/or economic value exchange. Suchpayment may, for example, occur between any pair of entities and/orother group of entities. By way of example and not limitation, a paymentmay include a non-monetary payment, such as a credit or coupon that maybe exchanged for goods or services, a reduced or eliminated cost to auser or users for related or non-related goods or services. In anotherexample, a payment may include granting a party certain rights orpermissions as payment, such as information-related permissions. Thismay involve granting a party rights to certain information the partyordinarily would not have rights to access, or rights to use certaininformation in a particular manner. For example, one type of payment mayinclude a party allowing another party to keep a user's personalinformation in a database for marketing or research purposes. In anotherexample, as compensation or payment, a user or users may grant anotherparty the right to monitor computer usage, or preferences or buyinghabits of the user in certain contexts, or the right to monitor aphysical location or activity of the user. The user also may accept cashor cash-equivalents as payment from the provider for providing suchentitlements, rights, or permissions. Thus, by providing and/orreceiving monetary or non-monetary value, in an amount that may bedesignated as part of an agreement between the relevant parties, theparties may gain advantages and benefits that are mutually acceptable toboth.

At the operation 406, metadata associated with the modified media assetthat identifies the modified media asset as containing the modifiedportion is determined. For example, the recognition logic 112 may accessthe metadata 128, which may include, for example, a marker associatedwith the modified media asset 102 that was imposed by a camera of theuser 122 when (or after) the former media asset 101 or the modifiedmedia asset 102 was obtained, or a marker that was associated with theformer media asset 101 or the modified media asset 102 sometime aftercapture or receipt thereof.

For example, where the modified media asset 102 includes a web page, therecognition logic 112 may analyze portions of the web page, includingsource code associated with the web page, that may provide informationabout, for example, any of the factors mentioned herein, or otherfactors (e.g., a capturing user or device, the concurrently-imagedobject(s) 120, or any other information about the modified media asset102 that may be useful to the recognition logic 112 in determining themodified portion 108). For example, where the modified media asset 102includes a video stream, a closed-captioning stream that is associatedwith the modified media asset 102 may be analyzed. For example, themodified media asset 102 may represent a television show or movie thathas an associated closed-captioning stream, which may be analyzed by therecognition logic 112 to assist in making a determination regarding themodified portion 108.

At the operation 408, at least an attribute of the modified media assetis associated with a capture device used to obtain at least a part ofthe modified media asset. For example, the recognition logic 112 mayanalyze any one of a number of attributes of the modified media asset102, for association with such a capture device (e.g., the camera 126 bof FIG. 2). To name a few such attributes by way of example and notlimitation, the recognition logic 112 may determine an attribute of theconcurrent image(s) 120 within the modified media asset 102, where theconcurrent image(s) 120 may include virtually any item that may beimaged within the modified media asset 102. The concurrent image(s) 120also may be used to determine a setting content of the modified mediaasset 102, such as, for example, a landmark, location, site, or venue atwhich the former media asset 101 or the modified media asset 102 (orportion thereof) was captured.

By associating these and possibly other attributes of the modified mediaasset 102 (some of which are provided below), the recognition logic maydetermine that the associated user capture device (e.g., the camera 126b of FIG. 2B), may be known to capture certain content that will be, oris likely to be, modified. For example, a camera that is known to be ina certain location, or of a certain make, model, or brand, or belongingto a certain user, or subject to a particular user agreement, may beknown to modify (e.g., obscure or replace) all images of a certainperson, place or thing, and, further, may be known to perform a certaintype of modification (e.g., use a particular substitution item).Similarly, cameras in a high-security facility, or cameras at an eventwith a public figure(s) (e.g., a movie star, politician, or professionalathlete) may be modified from capturing images of certain people,places, or things. Thus, by knowing these facts, the recognition logic112 may detect the certain type of modification in order to determinethe associated camera, or conversely, may determine the associatedcamera and then search for the modification accordingly.

Somewhat analogously, at the operation 410, at least an attribute of themodified media asset 102 may be associated with a user known to havecaptured at least a part of the modified media asset. That is, similarlyto the capture device examples above, a particular user may beassociated with certain modifications or types of modifications. Forexample, the user 122 may be a newspaper photographer working for anewspaper that has agreed not to take any pictures of certain publicfigures (or spouses or families thereof), and has further agreed thatany such pictures will be replaced with anonymous images, or otherwiseobscured.

In the cases and examples above, any pictures known to have beencaptured by the user 122 (e.g., the modified media asset 102) and/orwith the camera 126 b may be examined by the recognition logic 112 uponsubmission, for example, to the processing system 104. The modifiedmedia asset 102 may then be examined for the anonymous images, or otherobscuring techniques, that are associated with the particular user orcamera. In this way, for example, someone with appropriate permissionwho wishes to alter the modified media asset 102 and obtain the restoredmedia asset 106 may have a starting point for identifying that themodified portion 108 has been modified, and may know or suspect that themodified portion 108 may therefore contain desired content whenrestored.

For example, the recognition logic 112 may associate the modified mediaasset 102 or a portion thereof with the user 122 and/or the camera 126 bby recognizing the metadata 128 associated with the modified media asset102. In other examples, the user 122 may be required to identify himselfor herself to the processing system 104 before processing begins, or theprocessing system 104 may recognize some identifier of the camera 126 b,so that the recognition logic 112 may react accordingly.

FIG. 5 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 illustrates example embodiments where thedetermining operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 502, operation 504,operation 506, operation 508, operation 510, operation 512, and/oroperation 514.

At the operation 502, at least the modified portion of the media assetis analyzed to recognize the modified portion. For example, therecognition logic 112 may analyze the modified portion 108, or mayexamine the concurrent image(s) 120, or some combination thereof.

Implementations of the operation 502 may include additional operations.For example, at the operation 504, image analysis of the modified mediaasset may be performed. For example, the recognition logic 112 mayperform image analysis to determine that the modified portion 108includes an image of a person, or portion thereof, or any other objectthat may be visually imaged. The image recognition analysis may include,for example, color analysis, pattern-matching, pattern-recognition,facial recognition, or any other technique for recognizing a particularimage or type of image.

Further, at the operation 506, audio analysis of the modified mediaasset may be performed. For example, the recognition logic 112 mayperform a speech recognition analysis to determine certain words orsounds from the substitutions information 119 that are known to act asreplacements for curse words or other spoken or audible restrictedsounds. As should be apparent, the restoration logic 114 may thenrestore these words or sounds within the restored media asset 106.

At the operation 508, an attribute of an included subject within themodified media asset is determined. For example, if the modified mediaasset 102 includes an imaged subject, the recognition logic 112 maydetermine any image attribute mentioned herein, or other attributes,including size, shape, color, identity, race, gender, physique, anassociated capture device or capturing user, or any other attribute thatmay be associated with the subject. If the modified media asset 108includes audio, then the recognition logic 112 may recognize anyattribute of a spoken word or other sound, such as a volume, aninflection or emphasis, an accent, or a context within other words orsounds. The subject may include a human subject, a place, a thing, orany other thing that may be captured in the modified media asset 108.

At the operation 510, one or more of a symbol or a word within themodified media asset may be determined. For example, the recognitionlogic 112 may determine the symbol or text 130, e.g., by way oftext-recognition software, and thereby used to recognize, or otherwisedetermine information related to, the modified portion 108. For example,a name may appear within the symbol or text 130 that is relevant eitherto the modified portion 108 and/or the former portion 107.

At the operation 512, at least a portion of the modified media asset isassociated with setting content of the modified media asset. Forexample, the recognition logic 112 may analyze the modified media asset102 to determine that the setting content is such that many of theincluded subjects may have been modified. For example, if therecognition logic 112 recognizes that a setting content of the modifiedmedia asset 108 is associated with a crime scene photograph, then it maybe likely that images of bystanders may have been anonymized, obscured,replaced, blurred, or otherwise modified. Thus, certain police officersmay be visible, while the bystanders are not. At some point, the user122 may suspect that one of the modified bystanders was, in fact,relevant to an investigation. Thus, the recognition logic 112 mayrecognize the setting content of the modified media asset as a crimescene, and the restoration logic may then restore the former images ofthe bystanders.

At the operation 514, an attribute of at least the modified portion isevaluated against recognition criteria specifying media asset attributesassociated with identifying modified media assets. For example, therecognition logic 112 may evaluate the modified portion 108 against therecognition criteria 116, where the recognition criteria 116 mayinclude, for example, virtually any of the attributes of the modifiedportion 108 that may include any attribute mentioned herein, or otherattributes, including size, shape, color, identity, race, gender,physique, an associated capture device or capturing user, a sound, aword (spoken or printed), a symbol, and/or any other attribute. Therecognition criteria 116 may involve, for example, any of the variouscriteria described herein, such as identity information, settingcontent, image or facial recognition analysis, metadata, and so on, aswell as criteria not explicitly mentioned here. Moreover, therecognition criteria 116 and recognition logic 112 may interoperate todetermine the modified portion 108 based on any combination of thesecriteria, as may be determined and configured, for example, by the user122 by way of the user interface 124.

FIG. 6 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 6 illustrates example embodiments where thedetermining operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 602, operation 604,operation 606, and/or operation 608.

At the operation 602, a user preference associated with the modifiedportion is determined. For example, the user 122 may express apreference as to whether the modified portion 108 should be enabled tobe restored, and in what circumstances and to what extent, and thispreference(s) may be coded into the recognition criteria 116, e.g.,again, using the interface 124. The user 122 may represent someoneeither capturing, transmitting, or reviewing the modified media asset102, examples of which are described in more detail, herein.

At the operation 604, a preference of a subject of the modified portionis determined. For example, a public or private figure whose image inthe former portion 107 has been obscured in the modified portion 108 mayexpress a desire not to allow some or all users to restore his or herimage in the restored media asset 106. As discussed above, the subjectmay be any other element or item within the modified portion 108,including, for example, a place or a thing. Moreover, the modified mediaasset 102 includes non-image subjects, such as, for example, spokenwords and other sounds, or symbol/text 130.

At the operation 606, a preference of a user who captured at least apart of the modified media asset may be determined. For example, theuser 122 may be a consumer who has captured several family photographsand wishes to distribute them to friends and relatives. For whateverreason and by whatever technique(s), the modified portion 108 may beobscured or otherwise modified. For example, the user 122 may havemodified images of certain persons from the former media asset 101. Upondistribution, the user 122 may wish to reveal or restore the persons,and may specify such to the processing system 104. In particular, asdiscussed in more detail below, the user 122 may wish to reveal orrestore (or allow to be revealed or restored) only certain portions orattributes of the former portion, in a manner that is dependent upon arecipient or potential recipient of the restored media asset 106. Suchpreferences may be provided to the recognition logic 112 for use indetermining the modified portion 108.

At the operation 608, a preference of a producer of the restored mediaasset may be determined. For example, the user 122 may represent aneditor of a newspaper who is reviewing a number of photographs taken bystaff photographers, among which the modified media asset 102 may beincluded. In this case, although the editor may not have captured formermedia asset 101, and may not have been associated with modifying theformer media asset 101 to obtain the modified media asset 102, he or shemay be responsible for producing the restored media asset 106 forconsumption by an audience of the newspaper. In this case, the editormay determine whether, which, and to what extent modified portion(s) 108are allowed to be restored within the restored media asset 106. Forexample, the editor may determine that the modified portion 108 wasmodified incorrectly or improperly, and may wish to restore the modifiedportion to the former portion 107 as the restored portion 110, using therecognition logic 112 and/or the restoration logic 114.

FIG. 7 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 7 illustrates example embodiments where thedetermining operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 702, operation 704,operation 706, operation 708, and/or operation 710.

At the operation 702, identity information associated with the modifiedmedia asset is determined. For example, the recognition logic 112 maydetermine identity information of a person within the modified portion108, which may include, for example, a name, an occupation, anassociation (e.g., as a spouse, relative, friend, or employer/employee),a race, a gender, a body physique, a height, a hair color or hair style,a style of dress, or any other distinguishing information thatidentifies the person, and, in some examples, that uniquely identifiesthe person. Again, such identity information is not limited to persons,and similar techniques may be applied to animals, items, objects,places, landmarks, words (spoken or written), sounds, symbols, and anyother type of subject that may appear within the modified portion 108.

Further, the determination of identity information may be performed withrespect to other attributes of the modified media asset than themodified portion 108 itself. For example, identity information may bedetermined with respect to concurrent content, e.g., the concurrentimage(s) 120 or symbol/text 130 (spoken or written).

The operation 702 may optionally include additional operations. Forexample, at the operation 704, audio information within the modifiedmedia asset 102 may be associated with a person. For example, therecognition logic 112 may perform voice recognition on an audio streamincluded in the media asset 102.

At the operation 706, it may be determined that the identity informationis associated with an obscuring identity. For example, the recognitionlogic 112 may determine that the determined identity information isassociated with an identity that is known to be used for obscuringpurposes. Examples of how such identity information may be used by therestoration logic 114 to produce the restored portion 110 are describedin more detail below, although it may be mentioned here that, bydetermining identity information as described above, it follows that therestored portion 110 may include or be associated with different, e.g.,original or former, identity information. For example, a personassociated with the modified portion 108 may be determined to be someoneassociated with the substitution information 119, and the recognitionlogic 112 may thus determine that the modified portion 108 has, in fact,been modified.

At the operation 708, image information within the modified portion isassociated with an image subject. For example, the recognition logic 112may perform image analysis on the modified media asset 102 to determinean image subject, e.g., a person, place, or thing, within an image.

The operation 708 may include additional operations, such as, forexample, the operation 710, at which the subject is matched with atleast one of a plurality of subjects that have been designated forinclusion in the modified media asset. For example, where the subjectincludes a person, it may be the case that persons such as movie stars,politicians, professional athletes, or other public figures (or personswith associations thereto, such as spouses or relatives) may have theirimages and identities modified within the modified portion 108, perhapsin a predictable or recognizable way, e.g., by replacement with aparticular selected image from the substitution information 119. Similarcomments apply to persons with government high security or classifiedstatus, or other persons having safety measures associated withpromulgation of their image(s). Then, as described in more detail below,persons with appropriate permissions may use the processing system 104to restore some or all of the images, or at least attributes of theimages, of the former identities/persons.

Again, similar comments apply not just to persons within the modifiedportion 108, but to virtually any object that may be imaged or otherwisecaptured and associated with identity information. For example, themodified media asset 102 may include a physical place, such as a publicor private landmark, a building, or a sports arena, and the identityinformation associated therewith may be determined by the recognitionlogic 112. Similarly, any particular object having identity information,such as, for example, a car or type of car, a work of art, an animal, acomputer or computing device, a piece of jewelry or clothing, or anyother object, may have identity information associated therewith fordetermining that the associated image is modified.

FIG. 8 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 8 illustrates example embodiments where thedetermining operation 310 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 802, operation 804, and/oroperation 806.

At the operation 802, the modified media asset is determined to includeone or more of a still image, an imaged element within a video stream, aword within an audio stream, or a sound within an audio stream. Forexample, the recognition logic 112 may determine the modified portion108 within the modified media asset 102 that includes an audio-videostream, such as a television program.

At the operation 804, the modified media asset is received at one ormore of an image capture device, an image display device, a printdevice, an audio capture device, or an audio rendering device. Forexample, FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate the examples of the print device 126 a,the image capture device 126 b, and the display device 210. Of course,the display device 210, as referenced above, may include audio captureand/or playback functionality, such as, for example, a PDA or MP3player. In the above examples, the image capture device 126 b may be anytype of, for example, camera, digital camera, web camera (webcam) orvideo camera, where any of these and others may be disposed within or inassociation with one or more other devices, such as, for example, a cellphone or personal digital assistant (PDA). In the example of the printdevice 126 a, the modified media asset 102 may be downloaded thereto byway of an external computer, and/or by way of a memory card insertedinto (or otherwise connected to) the print device 126 a. In this way,for example, the print device 126 a, as with the camera 126 b, may beused to produce the restored media asset 106.

At the operation 806, the modified media asset is received at a centralcollection facility for collecting media assets. For example, themodified media asset 108 may be received at the processing service 208.As a more specific example, the processing service 208 may include afacility that receives a number of modified media assets, in which oneor more portions may have been modified. The processing service 208 maythen examine the modified media assets to determine whether any of themodifications were made in error or should otherwise be undone. In suchcases, and in other cases, the processing service 208 of FIG. 2C mayserve as a clearinghouse for a number of users, who may be employees ofa single employer. In another example, the processing service 208 may bea commercial enterprise that received media assets from any number ofdisparate consumers.

FIG. 9 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 9 illustrates example embodiments where thealtering operation 320 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 902, operation 904,operation 906, operation 908, operation 910, operation 912, operation914, and/or operation 916.

At the operation 902, the modified media asset may be altered based onaccess information associated with one or more of a former media asset,the modified media asset, or the restored media asset. For example, therestoration logic 114 may access the restoration criteria 118 todetermine that the former portion 107, or certain portions or attributesthereof, may only be included within the restored portion 110 when therestored media asset 106 is to be distributed to a certain user or classof users, or in response to a received payment, or based on some othercriteria.

Embodiments of the operation 902 may include additional operations. Forexample, at the operation 904, an access preference is determined inassociation with one or more of a subject of the former media asset, auser responsible for capturing at least a part of the former mediaasset, or a user associated with distributing one or more of themodified media asset or the restored media asset. For example, therestoration logic 114 may access the restoration criteria 118 todetermine that a human subject of the former portion 107 previouslyexpressed an access preference such that his or her image would beobscured within the modified portion 108 for all recipients, but thatthis restriction was recently removed, in whole or in part, so that someor all recipients would be able to receive or obtain the restored mediaasset 106 having the restored portion 110 corresponding to one extent oranother to the former portion 107. In another example, where the user122 captured the former media asset 107 and subsequently modified themodified portion 108 to obtain the modified media asset 102, then theuser 122 may define access information for allowing recipients of themodified media asset 102 to alter the modified portion 108. Similarcomments apply when the user 122 represents a distributor of a pluralityof (users') media assets, who may define access preferences for allowingrecipients to alter the modified portion (or not).

At the operation 906, an attribute of the former portion to be includedwithin the restored media asset is determined, based on the accessinformation. For example, the restoration logic 114 may determine fromthe restoration criteria 118 that some attribute of the former portion107, that may have been modified within the modified portion 108, shouldor should not be included within the restored portion 110. Furtherexamples of such attributes are provided in more detail below.

Specifically, embodiments of the operation 906 may include additionaloperations. For example, at the operation 908, the attribute to includewithin the restored media asset may be determined from a group ofattributes including one or more of a gender, a race, a hair color, afacial feature, or a body physique. For example, the restoration logic114 may determine from the restoration criteria 118 that only one ormore of the attributes just mentioned, or others, may be included withinthe restored portion 110. For example, a recipient that provides more orless payment may be entitled to receive more or less restorationof/access to the former portion 107.

At the operation 910, the attribute to include within the restored mediaasset is determined from a group of attributes including one or more ofa clarity, a color, a contrast, a brightness, a shape, a sound, a soundquality, a size, a contour, an outline, a pattern, an anatomy, a figure,a frame, a form, a glyph, a symbol, or a word. For example, therestoration logic 114 may determine from the restoration criteria 118that the former portion 107 includes one or more of the above-mentionedattributes, and may determine whether or to what extent to include anyof these attributes within the restored portion 110, based on the accessinformation.

At the operation 912, a request of a requestor of the restored mediaasset is evaluated against a permission level associated with therequestor. For example, if the user 122 requests the restored mediaasset 106, then the restoration logic 114 may determine a permissionlevel associated with the user 122, and may produce the restored mediaasset 106 appropriately, e.g., may determine whether or to what extentto include the above mentioned attributes, or otherwise how to producethe restored media asset 106. It should be understood that the requestormay be any number of persons or types of persons, e.g., someone whocaptured the former media asset 101, someone who modified the formermedia asset 101 to obtain the modified media asset 102, someone who hasreceived or otherwise has access to the modified media asset 102 andwishes to distribute the modified media asset 102 with various levels ofrestoration.

At the operation 914, a recipient of the restored media asset isevaluated against a permission level associated with the recipient.Here, for example, the recipient may be a user who has not necessarilyrequested the restored media asset 106, but who has nonetheless had therestored media asset 106 forwarded or otherwise provided to him or her.The restoration logic 114 may then distribute the restored media asset106 to the various users, with various levels of restoration that dependon the receiving users.

At the operation 916, a context display of the restored media asset isevaluated against a permission level associated with the contextdisplay. For example, if the processing system is deployed andimplemented at a public viewing area(s), then the restoration logic 114may perform restorations based on characteristics of the area(s) thatare used to determine the permission levels. For example, movies withadult content (e.g., the former media asset 101) that have been modifiedto remove or obscure the adult content (e.g., thereby to obtain themodified media asset 102) may be restored to their original form whenthe restored media asset 106 is to be shown to a group of adults, butmay be only partially restored when shown to a group of teenagers, andmay not be restored at all when children may be present.

FIG. 10 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 10 illustrates example embodiments where thealtering operation 320 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1002, operation 1004,operation 1006, and/or operation 1008.

At the operation 1002, a modified image within the modified portion maybe replaced with at least an attribute of a former image within theformer portion. For example, the restoration logic 114 may replace amodified image within the modified portion 108 with at least anattribute of a former image within the former portion 107, where suchattribute(s) may include the various attributes mentioned herein, orother attributes.

At the operation 1004, the modified image within the modified portionmay be replaced with a replacement image that includes a former imagewithin the former portion as well as enhancements to the former image.For example, the restoration logic 114 may determine that the modifiedportion 108 includes a modified image of a human subject, in which, forexample, an identity or other information about the human subject in theformer portion 107 has been obscured (e.g., anonymized). In this case,perhaps based on access information as discussed above, the restorationlogic 114 may determine that only certain attributes of the formerportion 107 may be restored, and that, as part of the restorationprocess, the human subject imaged in the former portion 107 should beenhanced (e.g., modified to improve an appearance of the human subjectby removing wrinkles or other objectionable aspects, or by replacing theimage of the human subject with a younger image of the same humansubject). Of course, anytime at least a part of the former portion 107is restored, such enhancements, modifications, or transformations may bemade to the part and/or the former portion, including, by way of furtherexample, a desired scaling, rotating, coloring, or substituting.

At the operation 1006, the part of the former portion is obtained from asubstitutions database that is operable to store an inventory ofsubstituted asset portions. For example, the restoration logic 114 mayobtain the former portion 107 (or part thereof) from the substitutionsdatabase 119.

At the operation 1008, identity information related to a subject of theformer portion is revealed by restoring at least a part of an image ofthe subject from the former portion within the restored media asset. Forexample, as referenced above, a subject of the former portion 107 may beanonymized or otherwise obscured within the modified portion 108. Forexample, an identity of the subject may be undeterminable from themodified portion 108. Thus, the restoration logic 114 may act to restoreat least enough information or attributes of the former portion 107 toreveal the identity information of the subject, without necessarilyrevealing the former portion 107 in its original form.

FIG. 11 illustrates alternative embodiments of the example operationalflow 300 of FIG. 3. FIG. 11 illustrates example embodiments where thealtering operation 320 may include at least one additional operation.Additional operations may include operation 1102, operation 1104,operation 1106, and/or operation 1108.

At the operation 1102, the modified media asset is altered at one ormore of an image capture device, an image display device, a printdevice, an audio capture device, an audio rendering device, or a remoteprocessing service. For example, the modified media asset 108 may bealtered at one or more of the print device 126 a, the image capturedevice 126 b, the display device 210, or the processing service 208.

At the operation 1104, encryption information regarding the modifiedportion is accessed. For example, the restoration logic 114 may accessencryption information stored with relation to the modified media asset108, and make a determination as to whether to provide the encryptioninformation to a particular user who is to receive the restored mediaasset 106 (or whether to otherwise use the encryption information aspart of the restoration operation(s)). In another example, theencryption information, or a reference to the encryption information,may be included or referenced within the metadata 128, for access by therestoration logic 114.

At the operation 1106, the encryption information is provided to a userto enable the user to obtain the restored media asset. For example, theuser 122 may obtain the encryption information remotely or separatelyfrom the operations of the processing system 104, and may then obtainthe benefit of the operations of the processing system 104 by providingthe encryption information (e.g., by providing a password and/or otheridentifier).

At the operation 1108, the restored media asset is produced as a digitalrestored media asset. For example, the restoration logic 114 may outputthe restored media asset 106 as a digital media asset, e.g., for digitaluse, storage, transmission, reproduction, or modification by thereceiving user 122.

FIG. 12 illustrates a partial view of an exemplary computer programproduct 1200 that includes a computer program 1204 for executing acomputer process on a computing device. An embodiment of the exemplarycomputer program product 1200 is provided using a signal bearing medium1202, and may include at least one of one or more instructions fordetermining that a modified media asset includes a modified portion thathas been modified from a former portion, and one or more instructionsfor altering the modified media asset to produce a restored media assetin which at least a part of the former portion is restored. The one ormore instructions may be, for example, computer executable and/orlogic-implemented instructions. In one implementation, thesignal-bearing medium 1202 may include a computer-readable medium 1206.In one implementation, the signal bearing medium 1202 may include arecordable medium 1208. In one implementation, the signal bearing medium1202 may include a communications medium 1210.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary system 1300 in which embodiments may beimplemented. The system 1300 includes a computing system environment.The system 1300 also illustrates the user 122 using a user device 1304,which is optionally shown as being in communication with a computingdevice 1302 by way of an optional coupling 1306. The optional coupling1306 may represent a local, wide-area, or peer-to-peer network, or mayrepresent a bus that is internal to a computing device (e.g., in exampleembodiments in which the computing device 1302 is contained in whole orin part within the user device 1304). A storage medium 1308 may be anycomputer storage media.

The computing device 1302 includes an operability to transmit and/orreceive the modified media asset 102 and/or the restored media asset106. The computing device 1302 also includes computer executableinstructions 1310 that when executed on the computing device 1302 causesthe computing device 1302 to determine that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a formerportion, and alter the modified media asset to produce a restored mediaasset in which at least a part of the former portion is restored.

As referenced above and as shown in FIG. 13, in some examples, thecomputing device 1302 may optionally be contained in whole or in partwithin the user device 1304, and may include the image-capture device(camera) 126 b or the printer 126 a. For example, the user device 1304may include a cell phone, and the computing device 1302 may be includedas part of a digital camera included within the cell phone. In anotherexample embodiment, the computing device 1302 is operable to communicatewith the user device 1304 associated with the user 122 to receive themodified media asset 102 from the user 122 and to provide the restoredmedia asset 106 to the user 122.

FIG. 14 illustrates an operational flow 1400 representing exampleoperations by which the user 122 (or another user) obtains the restoredmedia asset 106 that includes the restored portion 110. At operation1410, a user provides a modified media asset to a processing system forrecognition of a modified portion within the modified media asset thathas been modified from a former portion. For example, the user 122 mayprovide the modified media asset 102 to the processing system 104 forrecognition of the modified portion 108 by the recognition logic 112. Atoperation 1420, a restored media asset is received in which at least apart of the former portion is restored. For example, the restored mediaasset 106 may be received in which the modified portion 108 has beenmodified to include the restored portion 110.

The operation 1410 may include one or more additional operations. Forexample, the operation 1410 may include an operation 1402 in whichrecognition parameters by which the modified portion may be determinedare specified by way of a user interface. For example, the user 122 mayset parameters of the recognition logic 112 using user interface 124.

Also, the operation 1410 may include an operation 1404, in whichrestoration parameters by which the former portion may be restored maybe specified by way of a user interface. For example, the user 122 mayspecify parameters of the restoration logic 114, by way of the userinterface 124 for restoration of at least a part of the former portion107.

The operation 1420 may include one or more operations. For example, theoperation 1420 may include an operation 1406, in which the modifiedmedia asset is received from one or more of an image capture device, animage display device, an audio capture device, an audio renderingdevice, a print device, or a remote processing service. For example, theuser 122 may receive the restored media asset 106 by way of the printdevice 126 a, the camera 126 b, the remote processing system 208, or thedisplay device 210.

Of course, the user 122 may receive the restored media asset 106 inother ways. For example, the restored media asset 106 may be received asstored on a memory device. For example, the user may capture an audioand/or visual file using an image capture device or by way ofdownloading from a website or other location. The user may store theresulting digital file on a memory card, memory stick, CD, DVD, or otherstorage media.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from this subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of this subject matter describedherein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solelydefined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those withinthe art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in theappended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generallyintended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should beinterpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” shouldbe interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should beinterpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will befurther understood by those within the art that if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will beexplicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitationno such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, thefollowing appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases“at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations.However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply thatthe introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or“an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claimrecitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even whenthe same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “atleast one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or“an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one ormore”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used tointroduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number ofan introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled inthe art will recognize that such recitation should typically beinterpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the barerecitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typicallymeans at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “atleast one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a constructionis intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understandthe convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C”would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone,C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A,B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general sucha construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that any disjunctive word and/orphrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

The herein described aspects depict different components containedwithin, or connected with, different other components. It is to beunderstood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, andthat in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achievethe same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement ofcomponents to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated”such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any twocomponents herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can beseen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionalityis achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being“operably connected,” or “operably coupled,” to each other to achievethe desired functionality. Any two components capable of being soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” to eachother to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples ofoperably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateableand/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactableand/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interactableand/or logically interacting components.

While certain features of the described implementations have beenillustrated as disclosed herein, many modifications, substitutions,changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Itis, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spiritof the embodiments of the invention.

1. A method comprising: determining that a modified media asset includesa modified portion that has been modified from a former portion; andaltering the modified media asset to produce a restored media asset inwhich at least a part of the former portion is restored.
 2. The methodof claim 1 wherein determining that a modified media asset includes amodified portion that has been modified from a former portion comprises:receiving a request from a user for the restored media asset.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a former portioncomprises: receiving payment from a user for obtaining the restoredmedia asset.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that amodified media asset includes a modified portion that has been modifiedfrom a former portion comprises: determining metadata associated withthe modified media asset that identifies the modified media asset ascontaining the modified portion.
 5. The method of claim 1 whereindetermining that a modified media asset includes a modified portion thathas been modified from a former portion comprises: associating at leastan attribute of the modified media asset with a capture device used toobtain at least a part of the modified media asset.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 wherein determining that a modified media asset includes amodified portion that has been modified from a former portion comprises:associating at least an attribute of the modified media asset with auser known to have captured at least a part of the modified media asset.7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a former portioncomprises: analyzing at least the modified portion of the media asset torecognize the modified portion.
 8. The method of claim 7 whereinanalyzing at least the modified portion of the media asset to recognizethe modified portion comprises: performing image analysis of themodified media asset.
 9. (canceled)
 10. The method of claim 1 whereindetermining that a modified media asset includes a modified portion thathas been modified from a former portion comprises: determining anattribute of an included subject within the modified media asset. 11.The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a former portioncomprises: determining one or more of a symbol or a word within themodified media asset.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining thata modified media asset includes a modified portion that has beenmodified from a former portion comprises: associating at least a portionof the modified media asset with a setting content of the modified mediaasset.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a modifiedmedia asset includes a modified portion that has been modified from aformer portion comprises: evaluating an attribute of at least themodified portion against recognition criteria specifying media assetattributes associated with identifying modified media assets.
 14. Themethod of claim 1 wherein determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a former portioncomprises: determining a user preference associated with the modifiedportion.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a modifiedmedia asset includes a modified portion that has been modified from aformer portion comprises: determining a preference associated with asubject of the former portion.
 16. The method of claim 1 whereindetermining that a modified media asset includes a modified portion thathas been modified from a former portion comprises: determining apreference of a user who captured at least a part of the modified mediaasset.
 17. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that a modifiedmedia asset includes a modified portion that has been modified from aformer portion comprises: determining a preference of a producer of therestored media asset.
 18. The method of claim 1 wherein determining thata modified media asset includes a modified portion that has beenmodified from a former portion comprises: determining identityinformation associated with the modified media asset.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein determining identity information associated with themodified media asset comprises: matching audio information within themodified media asset with a person.
 20. The method of claim 18 whereindetermining identity information associated with the modified mediaasset comprises: determining that the identity information is associatedwith an obscuring identity.
 21. The method of claim 18 whereindetermining identity information associated with the modified mediaasset comprises: associating image information within the modifiedportion with an image subject.
 22. The method of claim 21 whereinassociating image information within the modified portion with an imagesubject comprises: matching the subject with at least one of a pluralityof subjects that have been designated for inclusion in the modifiedmedia asset.
 23. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that amodified media asset includes a modified portion that has been modifiedfrom a former portion comprises: determining the modified media asset toinclude one or more of a still image, an imaged element within a videostream, a word within an audio stream, or a sound within an audiostream.
 24. (canceled)
 25. The method of claim 1 wherein determiningthat a modified media asset includes a modified portion that has beenmodified from a former portion comprises: receiving the modified mediaasset at a central collection facility for collecting media assets. 26.The method of claim 1 wherein altering the modified media asset toproduce a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored comprises: altering the modified media asset basedon access information associated with one or more of a former mediaasset, the modified media asset, or the restored media asset. 27.(canceled)
 28. The method of claim 26 wherein altering the media assetbased on access information associated with one or more of a formermedia asset, the modified media asset, or the restored media assetcomprises: determining an attribute of the former portion to includewithin the restored media asset, based on the access information. 29.(canceled)
 30. (canceled)
 31. The method of claim 28 wherein determiningan attribute of the former portion to include within the restored mediaasset, based on the access information comprises: evaluating a requestof a requestor of the restored media asset against a permission levelassociated with the requestor.
 32. The method of claim 28 whereindetermining an attribute of the former portion to include within therestored media asset, based on the access information comprises:evaluating a recipient of the restored media asset against a permissionlevel associated with the recipient.
 33. The method of claim 28 whereindetermining an attribute of the former portion to include within therestored media asset, based on the access information comprises:evaluating a context display of the restored media asset against apermission level associated with the context display.
 34. The method ofclaim 1 wherein altering the modified media asset to produce a restoredmedia asset in which at least a part of the former portion is restoredcomprises: replacing a modified image within the modified portion withat least an attribute of a former image within the former portion. 35.The method of claim 1 wherein altering the modified media asset toproduce a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored comprises: replacing a modified image within themodified portion with replacement image that includes a former imagewithin the former portion as well as enhancements to the former image.36. The method of claim 1 wherein altering the modified media asset toproduce a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored comprises: obtaining the part of the former portionfrom a substitutions database that is operable to store an inventory ofsubstituted asset portions.
 37. The method of claim 1 wherein alteringthe modified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which atleast a part of the former portion is restored comprises: revealingidentity information related to a subject of the former portion byrestoring at least a part of an image of the subject from the formerportion within the restored media asset.
 38. (canceled)
 39. The methodof claim 1 wherein altering the modified media asset to produce arestored media asset in which at least a part of the former portion isrestored comprises: accessing encryption information regarding themodified portion.
 40. The method of claim 1 wherein altering themodified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which at leasta part of the former portion is restored comprises: providing theencryption information to a user to enable the user to obtain therestored media asset.
 41. The method of claim 1 wherein altering themodified media asset to produce a restored media asset in which at leasta part of the former portion is restored comprises: producing therestored media asset as a digital restored media asset.
 42. A computerprogram product comprising: a signal-bearing medium bearing at least oneof one or more instructions for determining that a modified media assetincludes a modified portion that has been modified from a formerportion, and one or more instructions for altering the modified mediaasset to produce a restored media asset in which at least a part of theformer portion is restored.
 43. (canceled)
 44. (canceled)
 45. (canceled)46. A system comprising: a computing device; and instructions that whenexecuted on the computing device cause the computing device to determinethat a modified media asset includes a modified portion that has beenmodified from a former portion, and alter the modified media asset toproduce a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored.
 47. (canceled)
 48. The system of claim 46 whereinthe computing device is operable to communicate with a user device toreceive the modified media asset from the consumer and to produce therestored media asset to the user.
 49. A device comprising: a processingsystem, the processing system comprising recognition logic that isoperable to determine that a modified media asset includes a modifiedportion that has been modified from a former portion, and restorationlogic that is operable to alter the modified media asset to produce arestored media asset in which at least a part of the former portion isrestored.
 50. The device of claim 49 wherein the recognition logic isoperable to communicate with a memory storing recognition criteria. 51.The device of claim 49 wherein the restoration logic is operable toaccess a former asset for inclusion in the restored media asset. 52.(canceled)
 53. A method comprising: providing a modified media asset toa processing system for recognition of a modified portion within themodified media asset that has been modified from a former portion; andreceiving a restored media asset in which at least a part of the formerportion is restored.
 54. The method of claim 53 wherein providing amodified media asset to a processing system for recognition of amodified portion within the modified media asset that has been modifiedfrom a former portion comprises: specifying recognition parameters bywhich the modified portion may be determined, by way of a userinterface.
 55. The method of claim 53 wherein providing a modified mediaasset to a processing system for recognition of a modified portionwithin the modified media asset that has been modified from a formerportion comprises: specifying restoration parameters by which the formerportion may be restored, by way of a user interface.
 56. (canceled)